I got a note that someone thought they shouldn't have to register on
the site and get a newsletter to read posts. I explained, or I thought
I did that there's a cost and that we do not send out SPAM since it's
not unsolicitied. Here's what I get back:

You've pretty much told me my opinion doesn't count. That
being the case, I would say you are not sorry in the slightest that I
feel this way and your "empathy" is about as sincere as a used cars
salesman's.

Some people would jump off a bridge because "everybody else is doing so."
That's no excuse. Check out some of your competition at, for
example, VBCity, which recently dropped their requirement to register
because they were losing subscribers. Or how about P2P/Wrox?

Here's some simple advice that many other web sites have found equally
profuitable to SPAM: how about just putting some simple ads on
your pages, to be viewed by those both reading and writing posts.
Then you could drop the SPAM disguised as a "newsletter" bullshit and
be on the up-and-up for a change. Few folks read newsletters
anyway. When I want information, at least, I go looking for it as
I did today - I don't wait for a SPAMMER to send it to me. I
don't have time to read every scrap of SPAM that gets sent to my inbox
anyway, and your advertisers are fools if they think I do. In
fact, I boycott SPAMMERS for teh fact that they use SPAM to make money
as you have demonstrated below you are doing.

Just because you say it isn't SPAM does not make it so. I've
heard that same stupid excuse from every SPAMMER out there I've
contacted. If I didn't
ask for it it's SPAM. If I don't want it, it's SPAM. Like Bush, you can
lie to yourself, but you're not fooling me with your double
speak. SPAM is SPAM is SPAM and no amount of denial on your part
will change that. Making money sending unsolicited emails
containing advertisements makes you a SPAMMER, regardless of what
you're using that money for.

Whereas you, OTOH, are paying folks for the information you're guarding
so jealously? Or do you, perhaps, think their information should
be FREE to YOU to make money off of? Pot, kettle, black, pal!

Whether you make money from your site is not my concern, and the fact
that you even try to excuse this condition by mentioning your need to
make money just exposes you for the greedy sycophant you are. I
support the sites that work for me but I can't even tell whether you
have the information I need without first subjecting myself to your
SPAM. I support a community of developers who willingly share
their expertise not those who wish to profit from their hard work.

Steve Jones is the editor of SQLServerCentral.com and visits a wide variety of data related topics in his daily editorial. Steve has spent years working as a DBA and general purpose Windows administrator, primarily working with SQL Server since it was ported from Sybase in 1990. You can follow Steve on Twitter at twitter.com/way0utwest

Comments

Posted by Anonymous on 11 July 2005

As Phill posts in his blog, we've had a couple interesting threads in the forums where the respect and...